Customer service story: The more frequent the merrier

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Some of the best leaders in retail have been hammering at customer service initiatives throughout the home channel for years on end. So how are they doing? According to research from San Francisco-based MarketTools Inc., pretty good, but not great.

Of 1,000 consumers asked to think back to their last time they shopped at a home improvement store and describe service on a scale of 1 to 9, the average mark was 6.5. The study, conducted in July using a nationally representative sample of consumers, also found 75.3% believe service has neither improved nor declined.

“When one digs a little deeper, the story gets better,” said Mark Delaney, VP client development for MarketTools Inc. For those customers who would seem to know best — once-a-month or more shoppers — 22% said service is improving, and the average service rating increases to 7.0. For the 57 consumers in the survey who shop once a week or more, these figures are turbocharged to 42% and 7.4.

“The good news is retailers’ efforts are being noticed by their best customers.”